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“Of course this needs to be quite an open negotiation, the aim is not to punish the UK but still when you are a member of the club it’s better than to be out.

“It’s clear that the situation after Brexit will be worse for the UK or not as good as it is today or before.”

The 59-year-old French politician urged the EU and UK to work hard towards agreeing a trade deal and refused to talk about Britain exiting the bloc without a deal.

He added: “I refuse to speak about no deal. Frankly if you start talking about your plan B that means you do not believe in your plan A.

“Second, it’s two years from now and third, because I am convinced we can make it if we negotiate on the principles.

It’s clear that the situation after Brexit will be worse for the UK

Pierre Moscovici

“What are the principles? First, everybody wants to defend its own interests.

“Two, that’s about citizens, the freedom of citizens, the movement of citizens, there are four million people from the EU who work in the UK.

“Also there is the financial aspect that we need to discuss. Then we will be capable of discussing the future, and the future of our relationship needs to be very close.

“This must include a trade deal. This must include cooperation on research, on defence, on other items such as the fight against climate change.”

Brexit Negotiations: Britain's sternest enemies

Tue, April 4, 2017

According to a new index, the EU27 countries fall into three groups: hard-core, hard and soft. These are the countries with the highest scores which indicate a fairly strong opposition to Britain’s position